But conversion of a sleeper to commuter chair car or parlor space strikes me as quite a job. I guess, if you have competent shops, still cheaper than buying new, but still quite a job.

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Re: Through cars/commuter cars

« Reply #143 on: Apr 13th, 2012, 7:19pm »

"But conversion of a sleeper to commuter chair car or parlor space strikes me as quite a job."

Converting a sleeper to a parlor is very easy... you remove the linen, pillows and blankets. Cars such as those converted by NYC and PC to parlors received little to no changes at all. The same was true of older cars... the Sections, Compartments and Drawing Rooms were largely left as is, just no longer using the upper berths.

Re: Through cars/commuter cars

« Reply #144 on: Apr 13th, 2012, 7:30pm »

Conversion of a long distance chair car to a commuter coach strikes me as not a huge job, and doubtless much less expensive than buying new.

Conversion of a straight lounge or even a sleeper-lounge to a parlor or just keeping it as a lounge for use on longer runs perhaps not too big a job.

But conversion of a sleeper to commuter chair car or parlor space strikes me as quite a job. I guess, if you have competent shops, still cheaper than buying new, but still quite a job.

Clyde:

Good points, all.

Agreed....conversion of a through coach to a commuter coach certainly was an economical option for the the NJDOT (E-L/CNJ), versus buying a fleet of brand-new units.

Recall the sleepers purchased by the LIRR in the 60's and 70's for parlor service; some of these cars retained their compartments during their LIRR service days.

With through coaches, coversion was ofen little more than taking out the old seats and installing new, commuter-style seating.

As I had mentioned earlier, the main drawback to using former through cars on commuter runs was that the cars had only one entrance per side, unlike the standard commuter equipment, which had vestibule entrances at each end.

Posts: 4803

Re: Through cars/commuter cars

« Reply #150 on: Apr 13th, 2012, 11:40pm »

"But conversion of a sleeper to commuter chair car or parlor space strikes me as quite a job."

Converting a sleeper to a parlor is very easy... you remove the linen, pillows and blankets. Cars such as those converted by NYC and PC to parlors received little to no changes at all. The same was true of older cars... the Sections, Compartments and Drawing Rooms were largely left as is, just no longer using the upper berths.

And of course most purpose-built parlors had one or more rooms for ultra-premium space for folks who wanted/needed privacy. But i was thinking of conversion to straight parlor for most of the space, requiring substantial mods (removal of partitions and installation of palor-style chairs, etc).

NJDOT E #4248; note CNJ "Liberty" herald on nose...........

HFM, I am enjoying this thread quite a bit.

I wonder if you can tell me anything about the metal "shelf" just below the fireman's window on this unit? Is this unique to NJDOT units? Was its purpose to allow access to the windshield area from outside (via the cab ladder), without running grab irons all the way up the nose? Was it meant to serve as a kind of splash guard, to keep spray (or ballast) from flying up toward the cab windows? I've never noticed this feature on an E unit before, and this inquiring mind wants to know . . .

Re: Through cars/commuter cars

« Reply #154 on: Apr 14th, 2012, 12:20am »

HFM, I am enjoying this thread quite a bit.

I wonder if you can tell me anything about the metal "shelf" just below the fireman's window on this unit? Is this unique to NJDOT units? Was its purpose to allow access to the windshield area from outside (via the cab ladder), without running grab irons all the way up the nose? Was it meant to serve as a kind of splash guard, to keep spray (or ballast) from flying up toward the cab windows? I've never noticed this feature on an E unit before, and this inquiring mind wants to know . . .

Norm

Norm:

Glad you've been enjoying this topic....so have I!

I have to be totally honest with you....until you mentioned it, I NEVER paid any attention to the shelf you refer to.....this is a new one on me!

I am sure, though, one of the experts here will be able to shed some light on this little puzzler!

Speaking of the NY&LB E units.......

Recall that I had posted that some of the E's were ex-SOUTHERN, while others were from the ICG?

To date, I've yet to have seen one photo showing an ex-ICG unit hauling a NY&LB train, while still wearing ICG paint.

I am going to guess that, unlike the ex-SOUTHERN units, these engines were repainted into the NJDOT colors BEFORE entering service on the NY&LB.